Finding One's self
by Neccor
Summary: After killing Sasuke at the Valley of End, Naruto must cope with who, and what, he is. It becomes harder when Hinata becomes terrified because of his secret.
1. The Climatic Battle

Yo, something in my head for a bit, decided to randomly write this. Don't know how often I'll be updating though. Got anbother fic in the works, and may resume my first fic, though I have absolutly no idea what to do with it.

Remember, don't own much of anything

Spelling and grammer mistakes may be common as minbe sucks, I ften write at 2am, and I don't know anyone whop would beta this.

My reason to writethis is that I never saw a fic where Naruto killed Sasuke here. Well, I saw one, it sucked, and he melded with Kyuubi at the end of the fight. Boo

Enjoy.

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"Chidori!"

"Rasengan!"

Simutanious cries of attacks were heard in the valley of the end as what apeared to be two powerful demons fought for thier lives. They both knew that loosing was no option. They lunged at each other, full powered attacks met. The strongest attack will win this climatic battle. Though chaos ensued in the outside, bother were thinking of the past, prepared for death.

**Inside Sasuke's mind**

_'I don't care what will happen, I need more power. If that dobe can be at my level, then I must of been slacking.' Battles of the past flashed through his mind. Haku. Gaara. The mission to the Snow Country. The race. Even when on top of the hospital. He felt inferior, weaker to Naruto. But this time, he would prove that he was stronger than him. Then after killing his best friend, which will harden his heart completely and then destroy his brother. All second thoughts were branished as he wanted to kill his friend, and rival._

**Inside Naruto's mind**

_Naruto remembered the good times of Team Seven. When they worked together to free Kakashi from Zabuza, when Sasuke took a hit for him from Haku, the missions after the chuunin exam where thier rivalry grew into a friendship. But now he was betrayed. His best friend was trying to kill him. Everyone was counting on him to finish this mission. Chouji, Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, Lee. All risked thier lives so he could finish this mission. This, he refused to fail. He had to beat Sasuke. He was dead last no more._

A powerful explosion shook the land as Rasengan met Chidori. Cursed seal met sealed curse. Power met friendship. Both determined, neither weilding. Naruto shoved his charged Rasengan into Sasuke's chest, practically liquifying his insides. Sasuke shoved his chidori into Naruto's chest, creating a whole, straight through his heart. But there was a differance in the outcome. As soon as the Chidori hit, Kyuubi withdrew some power from the Rasengan to prevent death, for a moment. There was still a huge hole in Naruto, but his heart was able to atleast function untill real medical help arrived.

"Na-Naruto..." Saskue coughed up blood Neither had much time to live.

"Sas- ke?" The blond tried to answer.

"Thank, y, you, ba, ka" Sasuke trailed the last 'a' as he died from his injuries. Naruto tried to respond, but passed out. Kyuubi, meanwhile, was working overtime to get chakra from anywhere he could to heal the kid. Sure, he didn't like him, at all, but he respected the brat. Not only does he demand power from the greatest demon of all time, but he killed his best friend with no remourse. Well, none yet. Yes, Kyuubi had virtually unlimited chakra, but after becoming sealed in the kid, he was weakened, alot. Soon, he felt the presence of Kakashi and felt relieved.

"Damn it, looks like they're both dead." Kakashi walked over to the pair, laying on the ground, looking to be in peace. Sasuke's chest was twisted and distorted. Direct hit from a powerful Rasengan. Naruto had two holes in his jacket, but only the one on his chest led to an actual hole in his body. But the hole looked odd. His heart should of literaly fallen out, but the inside wall of the injury seemerd to of closed. Then he saw it, a breif hint of red chakra coming out of it before reabsorbing into the injury. He got the message loud and clear. Naruto was still alive and Kyuubi was hard at work to save him. He didn't know why, but who was he going to question why his student was being saved.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Kakashi made a clone. Carefully, he picked up Naruto while the clone picked up Sasuke's corpse. He turned to Pakkun.

"Get help, now. The boy is still alive." Thet three sprinted off. Pakkun reached Konoha in a matter of minutes with real Kakashi trailing behind quite a bit while kage-Kakashi was even further behind with Sasuke.

* * *

Soon enough, Kakashi was met with several ANBU to retrieve the two boys and take them to Konoha. With what could be two students dead, Kakashi slowly walked back to his village.

Well, that's the first chapter. It's a bit short to start, but I ponly needed something to start thee plot. other chapters will be longer.

Next Chapter: The Village's Reaction!


	2. A village's spite and Inner Turmoil

Yup, anolther chapter, won't be as short. Meant to be this way.

Own squat, need more money so i can own stuff.

Well, let's start

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"horrible injury"

"Will never heal"

"Hokage-Sama said she can't help it."

"Heard the Uchia kid did it to him."

"Only cause he used it."

"Shh- He's waking" Naruto slowly came to consiouness as he heard the group of nurses gossip near his bed. A scurry of sounds were heard as the group left his room. He sighed. Alone again. Sure, he could always have a 'very nice chat' with that bastard fox, but half of the conversation would be how he could maim Naruto with his laft claw. He spent his other half talking about his right claw. Though a complete ass, he was helpful at times. He alteast explained that he would be very weak for quite some time, if not the rest of his life. Having a permanent hole in one's chest does that to a person.

**Flashback, inside Naruto's mind**

_Naruto was at Kyuubi's cell, who was laughing despite the state of his body._

_"You look like hell kit. What's the matter? Can't beat another stupid brat on your own._

_"If that brat has the power of a snake, then I need a little help. Maby if the help wasn't so weak I could beat him and not die! Bastard fox" They glared at each other for a few minutes. Ending in a draw, Naruto pipped up again._

_"So what's with the hole in my chest? I may be in here, but I can tell that it aint going anywhere."_

_"Brat!" Kyuubi yelled. "You just got a Chidori shoved in your chest and you're complaining of a hole? You should be on your knees thanking me for being alive._

_"Like hell I would! You're just saving your sorry ass. My life was just a side effect."_

_"...Brat"_

_"...Ass" After this breif argument, they went back to buisness._

_"Let me put this simply. I used my chakra to burn your insides shut so that they wouldn't fall out and kill us. Since i don't know much about repairing damage that I do to meatsacks, It's gonna stay that way. Your other injuries I simply just healed your natural healing properties. Here I would actually have to recreate your chest. You lost quite a bit of your heart, but through manipulation of your stem cells, I managed to create two seperate halves of it. It is really quite simple actually." Naruto raised an eyebrow._

_"Uhh, say that again in English would ya?" If he could, Kyuubi would of torn Naruto apart right now._

_"OK. Burned hole, stop death. Can't fix burned hole. Moved stuff around hole. Do. You. Under. Stand?" Kyuubi spoke slowly in annoyance, which of course pissed off Naruto._

_"Of course I do! What, do you think I'm stupid or something?" The two stood in silence for about a minute. "Shut up!" Kyuubi looked at the boy and was reminded, again, why he hated humans. Arrogent concieted assholes. Most of them pissed them off, especially this one. Sure, he respected some, but those he hated even more._

_"Ok, because I had to move your insides around, you will be weaker for a very long time. This is something that not even you can overcome so easily, and I won't help you.Now if you don't mind, I need to sleep. So get out!"_

**End Flashback**

Naruto's eyes slowly focused as he saw Tsunade walk in. She smiled at her younger brother.

"How ya feelion brat?" Naruto gave an affirmative grunt as what happened started to sink in. He killed his best friend and now he had a hole in his chest. Hell, becoming blind wouldn't be as bad. There had to be numerous techniques using chakra pulses to see the world, but this was differant. It showed his failure as a friend. The lone set of flowers proved it. Apparently only one person visited him, and he knew it couldn't of been Sakura. He ended up staring at it, tears forming in his eyes. He felt the weight of Tsunade sitting on his bed, holding his hand. She said nothing, for nothing could be said to help. He turned to her.

"I, I failed. I broke a promise. I killed someone. Not just someone, but my only friend. He, he was the only one who understood me." she grabbed her for comfort. They sat there for a few minutes, comforting each other.

"Well, Since you seem to be healthy," She tried to consol the blond with the little good news that she had. "I think that we can let you go in the morning." He nodded at her, surpressing a yawn. "But first you need some sleep. Try to get some, OK?" She gave Naruto a gentle kiss on the forehead as he laid his head down and fell asleep.

Next Morning

After signing his release papers, he was roaming Konoha. He didn't feel like eating, or talk to anyone. He just wanted to walk around in peace. He was in his usual outfit, minus the orange jacket, sulking. He just wanted to be alone for a while. He also noticed the cold stares he got from everyone. He was used to thiuer ignorent stares because of the Kyuubi, but these were differant, he deserved thm. But he kept on walking, walking. After walking for awhile, he became tired of it and sat down on the nearest bench.

He sat depressed for nearly an hour before he heard footsteps. He didn't look up from the ground, even when familer sandels came into veiw. He felt something hit his face, a hand. He nearly broke down there, wanting to cry, but didn't. Slowly, he looked up. His veiw changed to a pair of slender legs, to a red kimonowhich slowly gave way to a face. The face of his remaining teammate. Her green eyes told what he already knew. She hated him.

"How could you?" He didn't say a thing. "How could you kill my Sasuke-kun, and come back with out a scratch? Why did you do it, why?" She fell to her knees, crying. He simply looked at her. She was on the ground, crying. As much as he wanted to consol her, he couldn't. He simply got up and walked away, leaving the pink haired kunoichi shocked.

He had to get away. He tried to go home, but there was a large mob awaiting him. Luckilly he got away before they saw him. A smaller group was stationed at Ichiraku's, much to the owner's dismay, and at Team Seven's old training grounds. All of his favorie places were cut off from him. He would even settle for a dark alley, but even the bums hassled him there. Eventually he made his way home. He almost litealry had to fight his way to his house. Amid the various objects thrown at him, he heard his internal thoughts.

"You're a monster!"

"You corrupted our best rookie!"

"Get out of our village!"

"We all hate you!" Although he had nearly perfect control over his inner demon, he was so close to snapping and killing them all, he could almost taste thier blood. Fortunally for every one, the mob could feel the boy's tension and Kyuubi's chakra emitting from the boy. They had two choices. The first was to continue to goad him till he snapped and leveled Konoha, or two, back away, giving him death glares. Not wanting to fight for thier lives right now, they opted for the later.

Slowly Naruto climbed the stairs to his apartment. He ignored the vandelism and broken door, but doing so he failed to notice a bucket of soapy water in the hall. The inside was nothing but what he expected. Everything thrashed, broken, torn, or screwed up in some fashion. Of course this was somewhat mild as he once came home to his house on fire during his younger days. Then he heard some noises coming from his bedroom. Naruto didn't know what to do. Half of him wanted to tear him from limb to limb, the other half wanted to tell him to hurry up. As his darker side won over, he clenched his fists and approached his intruder. He peeked in, only seeing the shadow. Ok, so the he was a she, but that didn't matter. She was doing something in the closet, humming to herself. She's not going to be so happy in a moment.He lunged, grabbing her wrist, breaking it instantly. He pulled her up, fist about to crack the side of her face when

"Hinata?" He stopped his assalt on the poor girl It was then that he noticed that she was cleaning his apartment, not destroying it. He was shocked, not at her kindness, but at himself. Still gripping her broken wrist, he looked into her eyes. Fear, pain, and anger. He dropped her and backed away. "I did it again, I hurt another friend. I, I..." The young Hyuugan, cradleing her wrist, looked up at her crush. She didn't know what to think.

"Naruto-kun?" She was very confused, not sure how to handle this. He slowly backed out of the room. She stood up to follow him.

"I'm sorry." He spoke softly before he ran out of sight. She heard glass breaking as he jumped through and out of his window and an angry mob giving chase. She sat there crying for her long time love.

* * *

Whew, took me a bit to write, in about three good sessions. I'll be updating 3souls next. But first, a nap! I'm thinking of having the sand siblings show up next. I'm thinking of pairing him with Temari since she knows what it's like to know a 'monster'. Yeah, I told you that the other chapters would be much longer, and am I right, no? Si Que? Let me what you prefer in your reviews! Also include sugestions of a name for this story, the current one blows. 


	3. Rejection

OK, stuck with 3Souls, I decided to work on this in the meanwhile. Let me say that the crowd has spoken and I won't be doing a NaruTem fic. As for NaruHina, well, let's just see how it turns out when Naruto opens his heart to someone for the first time. The chapters may or may not be longer in the future. It all depends on my goal for the chapter.I'm not sure if this one will be too long though, but I'll try.

Oh, and about the hole. Think of when the chidori went through Naruto's shoulder. It went clean through. Think of it there, but where his heart is (was, his inards became rearanged) and since it is in his chest, a shirt covers it. Anyway, I'm thinking of recruiting a beta for my fanfics. E-mail me if your interested. I also have a request I'd like someone to do, if I can remember it that is. I had the awsome idea in my head at work, but it left me a while ago. Kuso! As always, Don't own anything but anime I illegally downloaded from the internet, and my computer with less than 200mb RAM Woo! Go me! Anyway, let's start.

* * *

Hinata was standing outside of Naruto's apartment, again. It had been about a week since she, or anyone had seen the blonde. She held her wrist, ashamed of what she did. She hurt him more than anyone, more than Sasuke, or even Sakura, and she hated herself for it. She wanted to go in and apologize, but she couldn't bear to get any closer to his apartment, and she didn't know if he was even there. She held a blue flower, picked from her garden, to her chest as memories of the pain she caused rushed in.

_Hinata was on the other side of the door to her father's office. She heard that Naruto was in her house and wanted to know why. She wasn't angry at him, he had made a simple mistake, and that was all. She could easilly forgive him, but her father, that was a nother story. She told him it was from training. he suspected otherwise, so didn't say anything._

_"Hyuuga Hiashi-sama, I humbling request an audiance with your daughter, Hyuuga Hinata." Naruto sadly spoke with as much restraint as he could. He always wanted to knock some sence into that white eyed head of his for being a lousy father, but now was not the time. Hiashi looked down at the kneeling Naruto._

_"What for." He spoke with authority. He knew of her crush on him, though he had no idea why. All he saw was a stupid goof off inbred child. And an orphan at that. Naruto kept his head lowered as he never left his kneeling position._

_"I wish to apologize for a wrong doing that I have done to your daughter yesterday." Hiashi tensed up. The one his elder daughter adored had hurt her. However, he remained civil._

_"Speak the reason you broke her wrist." Hinata gasped. He had known that it was no training accident, but intentional, however misplaced._

_"Well sir, as you know, the death of my teammate, Uchia Sasuke, was my doing and as expected, the village didn't take to kindly to it. I found my apartment vandalised. "He paused to collect himself. "Again. As I entered, I saw someone in my closet. Assuming she was trashing what little clothes I had, I went to attack the person. I unfortunally lost control of myself a little and accidently broke her wrist when I grabbed Hinata, who was cleaning up the mess. I didn't properly apologize at the time, and would like to formally do it here, and explain my reasons." Hiashi listened carefully to his words. He saw what Hinata saw. Gentle at heart, yet strong when the time comes. Very few would openly admit to him about harming his daughter, intentionally or otherwise._

_"She WILL be in her room." Hinata could tell it was directed to her and quickly left, not hearing the rest of the conversation. "You have my permission to see her. I hope that she is strong enough for it." He gave a weak smile as he rose He bowed._

_"Thank you sir." he turned and left, going to the direction of Hinata's room. It took a while and got lost a few times, but he arrived at his destination and knocked at the door. Hinata, fixing her hair and everything for Naruto, allowed him entrance._

_"Enter Naruto-kun." Naruto opened the door and bowed gently to Hinata, trying his best to be proper._

_"Na-naruto-kun. You don't have to b-be so propper." She smiled, doing her best not to stutter so much. Naruto gave a smile, one the few he put on since he woke up yesterday._

_"Hinata, I'd like to apolo-" Hinata cut him off._

_"It's ok Naruto-kun. I, I understand." She spoke softly with compassion. Though she had a nice red tint to her face, she didn't stutter. Naruto simply shook his head._

_"No, no you don't Hinata, but I hope you will. The only reason I broke your wrist is because I lost control. The only other time it has happened was when I went to the country of wave and fought my first enamy ninja." He spoke slowly as Hinata held onto every word. He slowly took off his jacket. "Hinata, I'd like to share something with you, a secret that I've been keeping from everyone my whole life. It is only because I know that I can trust you. But, "He paused, not wanting to do this, "If you never want to talk to me again, I truly understand." She put her arm on his shoulder._

_"Nothing can keep me from caring for you Naruto." She brought his eyes up to hers as she said that,trying to warm his heart up._

_"Thank you. Let me show you this first." He took off his black shirt to reveal a large bandage in his chest. "During the fight with Sasuke, he hit me with a chidori, right here."He pulled back the bandage to reveal what could best be described as a tunnel through his chest. The insides were blackened with chakra burns, but had the appearence of flesh."I was barely able to be healed." Hinata gasped as she backed away._

_"How, how is this possiable? No normal person can survive this. You'd almost have to be a-"_

_"A monster?" He cut her off, agitation was in his voice. He didn't want to finish this conversation, but he had already started it. "I almost am." He concentrated chakra to his seal, illuminating it. "The Fourth never killed Kyuubi, but he sealed it away in me. It helped me from time to time, but mostly, it is a curse."" Hinata was speechless, yet it did make sense. During the fight with Neji, he used red chakra. It was the same Naruto he always been, but..._

_"I'm sorry." She spoke softly._

_"What did you say?"_

_"I- I'm so sorry Naruto. I want to believe in you, but this is a little much. I truly do wish I could, but, I can't." She fell to the floor, fear plastered in her eyes. She wanted to be there for him. She always thought that nothing could stop her from loving Naruto. But now, she wasn't so sure._

_The hopeful face turned to sorrow, then anger. She could feel it radiating from him as his power surged. Instantly a dozen Hyuugan gaurds burst into the room prepared to kill the Kyuubi. Ten simutanios hands came down apon Naruto, attacking him in the gentle palm style, which was anything but gentle. Enraged, an entire arm made of chakra came forward and slammed them against the wall.He turned to the two gaurding the frightened Hinata._

_"Why? Why am I hated so much? I'm not the Kyuubi, I'm just Naruto!" He yelled out as he jumped out the window, not to be seened for a while. Hinata sat there, crying._

_Hinata hated herself for what she put him through. Even though she knew that what he said was true, she couldn't help being scared of him. Dropping the flower held in her hand, she turned around, tears falling. Yet again she failed to be strong._

Sakura was sitting on the bench, depressed about Naruto killing her crush. Sobbing, she wrapped herself tightly, feeling a cold shiver run through her body. She stared at the ground for some while untill she saw an odd pair of sandles appear. Slowly, she looked up to reveal a strong enamy, Gaara. He was flanked by his sister Temari and brother Kankaro.

She screamed loudly and in an attempt to back away, fell over the bench she was sitting on. Clumsilly, she tried to crawl away only to be caught by Gaara's sand. Her cries for help were stopped as the sand covered her mouth. past nitemares flashing through her mind, she welded her eyes shut in hopes of stopping the monster that attacked Konoha so many months ago. She felt herself get turned upside down and floated towards the sand-nin.

"Uzumaki" She opened one eye apon hearing his voice. Noticing no sign of agression, sort of, she opened her other one "Uzumaki, where is he."

"You mean naruto?" Sakura asked. She waited for a response, but got none. After all, she didn't know of any Uzumaki besides Naruto, and Gaara already stated that he was looking for him. He hated repeat himself. "Uhh, I don't know. We havn't seen him for atleast a week. Garra kept his cold eyes fixed on her.

"I'll be back." He unceramounisly dropped her on the ground, landing on her head. Turning, he left out of Konoha's gates while Kankaro and Temari stood in place.

"Uhh, I guess we'll just grab a room or something." Kankaro spoke as he and his sister went to a nearby inn, leaving Sakura ignored.

* * *

Yeah, that's all I got so far. I know that I havn't updated anything in about three weeks, but I did finish half of the next chapter for 3souls. I'm just stuck with a fight scene. I want them to be as cool as they are in the anime, yet still fail. It's tough.

With Hinata's reaction: almost all fics are complete acceptance with a few complete hatred with what Naruto is. I saw a fic where Sakura wanted to accept him but couldn't, and it turned out good.

Next episode! Naruto comes back with new tricks, and maby a friend. (Not sure though) Ohh, maby so. Got an idea. I hope it doesn't suck when I write it. But first, I'll try to update my 3souls fic.

Huh, after submitting this, it downs't look very big, now does it.


	4. Return

Ok, after many and countless hours working my ass off to update 3soluls, with no progress, I'm back at this fic. Who ever knew that writing a battle scene was so hard. It's not the battle, it's who is battleing. So frustrating. On the plus side, I know excatly where I want to end this fic at, when ever the hell that is. Basic story concept is in store and the name is forming as such. Unfortunally this may be a bit short. Yosh!

* * *

It was day five. Day five of waiting. It was all they did, wait. Team Gai and the Rookie 9, well, eight now were waiting, except for one certain person. Hinata. Since Naruto left, she has been wandering around Konoha in a depressed mood. It wasn't like when he left to bring back Sasuke, but one of horror, intimidation, and guilt. It worried everyone, to an extent to where even Shikamaru wanted to do something about it, and it seemed that luck struck this particular day. Seeing Hinata walk near the gate where the group was waiting Gaara's return with Naruto, they walked up and talked to her.

"Hinata" Shino approached her. Since he never talked unless he deemed it important, he was elected to start. "Let's talk" He guided her to a bench and sat her down. She complied, semingly oblivious to the group's focus on her. Looking at her, Shino went over the precise speech to gain her trust, sooth her, and have her talk of what's bothering her. Kiba had other plans.

"What's wrong with you? You should be here 24/7 looking for that moron, yet you seem to be avoiding his spots like the plauge? We know you like him, though I can't see why, so why are you like this?" Half the group glared at kiba while the serious ones (mainly Shino and Neji) noticed that there was no blush at the mention of the crush, but all eyes returned to her as she started to talk.

"I, I. He's the...but he's only holding...but still...infant..."She seemed to try to explain her actions to herself rather than the others. Slowly she looked up, tears in her eyes. "I'm scared of him Kiba-kun." Everyone wore a look of shock on thier faces as silence weighed the air down. It was broke, unfortunally, by the green beast.

"But he is burning with the flames of youth! He would never hurt a comrad that-" He stopped, remembering Sasuke's death. And if Hinata's confession was a shock, Lee's actions was even harder to believe. He kneeled down to one knee and held Hinata's hand, as if in a marrige proposal, and gently stroked it. His face full of serious. "Listen Hinata. Naruto did what he had to in order for him to live. If he didn't kill Sasuke, then he would of joined up with Orochimaru and become a great enemy." Hinata slowly shook her head.

"No, it's not that. I, I understand that. But I, I I." She stumbled through her sentance."He told me a terrable secret, one that I wish I never knew of. And because of that, I I, I rejected him." She buried her face into her hands and cried as the three kunoichis sat by her and tried to consol her.

"It's ok. If you tell him you're sorry and that you still care for him, then I know he'll accept you." Ino spoke softly. "After all, you do love him, right?"

"I, I just. I don't know anymore. I want to, truely wishI could, but this is too hard for me to handle alone, and it scares me. I'm scared of what Naruto is." Sakura tried next.

"Listen Hinata-chan. I'll tell you what Naruto is. He is a loud mouthed annoying clumsy baka of a ninja. As for who, well, who is he to you?" Hinata stared at the ground, biting her lip to discover the answer.

"I don't know. I just don't know anymore. It's so confusing." Tears resumed her crying as Tenten spoke up.

"Now I don't know Naruto as much as others, but from what I've seen he's a good guy, always standing up for his friends, doing what's right. He's not some evil selfish guy who cares only for himself and his family name" She glared at Neji at the end, who seemed unfazed, deeply thinking to himself. Tenten went back to Hinata as Shikamaru watched Neji muttered to himself. A few unimportant words came out audible, like 'chakra, if, why' and others, but one word made Hinata flinch.

"Monster." It was barely audible, but trained to hear Hinata's quiet words, Neji was loud and clear. _'Monster? Monster, seems important. Wait, when fighting Gaara, he summoned the frog and then henged into the Kyuubi. How did he know to use Kyuubi's reputation to intimidate Gaara? He slept through most of school, and it was a perfect replication. Then there was the chunnin exams. He used some wierd red chakra. I'll have to ask Neji about it. Damn_ _this was so troublesome_.' Shikamaru thought to himself.

"Well, he used an interesting henge while fighting Gaara in his weird form. Prevented the village's destruction." He piped up answering the other's questioning looks they were giving Neji. Sakura spoke.

"But Sasuke-kun beat him with his chidori, right?" The pink-haired girl spoke what most people 'knew'. Suddenly she found herself picked up by sand.

"He didn't, and could never, beat me. The only one who defeated me, ever, was him." At this Gaara lifted up a depressed Naruto. His clothes told a story of heavy wear and tear and severe burning over the past few days but his body was fine, if a bit dirty. Gaara, however, had many fresh scratches, bruises, and a broken arm supported by a sand cast. His clothes also were torn, burnt, shredded, and close to non existant, but it looked to be very recent. He looked up, a slight smile on his face apon seeing everyone waiting for him. Let go from Gaara's grip, he walked to Hinata, ignoring everyone's inquary.

"Hinata-chan? I didn't, are. How are you feeling?" He asked her, hoping it was the correct question to ask her. She didn't look up.

"I'm ok, Naruto, san." Everyone was shocked. There was no stuttering, no blushing, and above all, no 'kun'. Naruto was hurt, and he didn't know why. Why he was this upset over someone he didn't know too well. Not even Sakura's rejection hurt him this much, but somehow, Hinata's did.

A weak smile went on his face, one that everyone saw through. "That's good. I'm gonna go and, yeah..." He trailed off as he turned around to leave. They saw tears on both of the ninja's face, but each set of eyes held a differnt pain. White eyed shame and blue eyed rejection. Naruto slowly reached for his pocket and pulled out a small baby fox. A genuine, though still sad, smile brushed his face and he held the fragile thing, muttering "Nero". He walked towards his apartment as Gaara eyed it suspiciously. He let out a 'Hmm' as he went to the Hokage's tower to tell of his discoveries. He knew that she cared for him, the only one in the village. The necklace of the late Shodamine, aka the Godamine's great grandfather, Naruto wore was a dead giveaway.

Confused of the events and of being ignored, the group slowly filed away. Team 10 was the last as Kiba and Shino made sure that the mother of thier group got home safely, even if she was crying the whole way. Soon they too, made thier way home.

* * *

Well, took a bit. Well, three sessions actually. I have it mostly planned out, how everyone will become themselves again, and what is up with the baby fox Nero? And before I get asked/flamed about Gaara's knowledge, remember this. He was trained to destry Konoha, so he had to learn about it, and it's past. This includes the three sanins and thier pasts, status, abilities, etc

I hope you like. I still need some help with 3souls. I'm at a roadblock here. I'm so close to saying 'screw it, this is how it ended.' Anyway, hope you enjoyed And, as you can tell, I created a new name. Thanks for the help...


	5. Funeral and Sound Words

-rises from the grave, decaying flesh dripping from face as maggots crawl inside my body- Ugg, well, since 'Mother' is kicking my ass right now, god damn solo 2c, I decided to do some writing. I'm starting at midnight and am going straight through. Yosh!

* * *

The funeral was large with nearly three quarters of the village attending, along with prestigious members of nearby villages to 'pay respects to the great and noble Uchiha clan', or accurately to assure their nation that the legendary bloodline is indeed away from Konoha. Many stood up to talk about how much Sasuke excelled at things, or how his fragile mind became corrupted between the massacre and other (demonic) influences. It was a somber occasion, especially for Naruto, who sat in a nearby tree listening to how even in death Sasuke was inferior to him. Then he heard a voice that caused him to pay attention. Subaka no Gaara. 

"I hear you people call him strong. How he survived horrible tragedies and corruptible people. Let me tell you, as his opponent. Uchiha Sasuke was not strong. Yes, he was powerful, but not strong. All he thought of was how he could gain power to kill his brother, but that is why he lost to me. But even I was not strong, not back then, a seemingly short time ago during the chunnin exams. I met someone strong, someone who is hated and feared like me. However, because I lacked strength, I became a relentless monster, killing as I pleased while he, he just wants to protect everyone, including you who shun him. I would like to thank that person for changing me. I am living proof that we can be helped. Thank you Uzumaki Naruto." Gaara left a stunned audience, noticing a few faces in the front rows. The Hyuuga girled the he cheered for looked uncertain while the other Hyuuga, the one that was beat in the exams, was nodding in some understanding. He too, was changed by Naruto.

Shikamaru stood in the back, taking it all in. He was here more for the fact that Sasuke was a fellow shinobi, fallen or other wise. "Tch, so troublesome" He said as he left while another noble blabbed on about the almighty Uchiha. Ignoring the confused looks from his teammates about him ditching, Shikamaru decided to visit the library to look up some things.

Gaara was standing under a tree, apparently observing the going ons as people slowly filed out of the proceedings. A ring of sand slowly circled the ground around him and the tree when he heard a voice.

"Hey, did you really mean that?" Gaara gave a slight nod as he continued to stare off into nothing, though aware of everything. "Thanks. I glad that there is hope for me." The voice continued. "Even if nothing can go back to normal."

"Come, I'm hungry. I want food." He paused for a second. "And no ramen." A moan and soft thud indicating a pair of feet landing followed and they walked on undisturbed. It may have been Gaara's words, or the fact that Naruto took a chunk out of part of the Hyuugan estate, but most likely it was the threatening sand that circled the two ninja, and one tiny fox. It was also the sand that helped get prompt, if not slightly terrified, attention at the dango place that normally hated Naruto.

After ordering something with fish, a small piece of beef, and an order of 'the best food or else' for Naruto, the trio sat in silence. Petting Nero, the fox, Naruto spoke up.

"Temari, and Kank…uhh, your brother, do they, fear you still?" He stared at his tea.

"Yes." Naruto winced at the emotional pain he imagined he will be facing. "but, I think their fear is not of me, but for me. They are afraid that I will go back to a monster, killing for pleasure."

"But, if they left," He chose his words carefully "would you go back?" Gaara sighed, facing a similar question himself.

"I believe I would, even if I did not want it so. I often ask myself a question. Are they here because I am stabilizing, or so I stay that way?" He paused as the waitress shakily handed out the food, keeping an eye on the small sand spikes surrounding the floor of their booth.

"But they stayed with you before hand, so now that it's good, I don't think that they will want to leave your side. Because….They were there through the worst, and didn't run away." Naruto trailed off to himself as Nero nibbled on the piece of partially cooked beef. They sat in silence, unsure what to say to each other as an uninvited guest decided to make an entrance and sat next to Gaara, an interesting feat considering a sand spike was protruding from it moments ago.

"Hey Naruto, heard you off-ed the Uchiha brat. Good job! Kami knows he needed to be knocked down a few pegs. Damn Uchihas with their precious eyes of theirs. It's only cause of that damned seal that a Hyuuga doesn't pull the same stunt as Itachi. Oy!" she suddenly called to the waitress, "Gimme five orders of the usual!" It was followed with a prompt hai. "ooh, cute fox, lemme see 'im!" The lady suddenly picked up Nero, examining him, especially the muzzle. "Now, I may not be an Inuzuka, but this fox has a nice set of choppers, they could easily tear something apart."

Naruto looked up at the new table guest. Purple hair, fishnet shirt, and a weird sadistic glint in her eyes, it could only be one person in Konoha.

"Anko, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked in the depressed tone he had lately.

"What do you think I'm doing, this is a dango shop, is it not? I should be asking you that question, aren't you normally eating that nasty ramen?" Slowly, he looked up; anger all over his eyes, threatening to turn red, which only egged Anko on even more. Taking a bite off of his plate, she went on. "Seriously, how can you eat crap like that when-Hey!" she suddenly turned to the waitress "How come I never got dango as awesome as this? Have you been holding out on me?" The waitress looked at the three menacing shinobi and lost it. Screaming, she bolted out the door running for her life.

Another voice was heard as a slightly chubby man came out, obviously the owner, holding a 'HELP WANTED' sign. "Damn it Anko, you gotta stop threatening every poor girl who works here! I may have to kick you out if you don't stop it!" He muttered under his breath while she scoffed at him. Somehow it took away the tension in the room and the sand had all but disappeared back into the gourd whence it came from.

"Well, I hate to eat and run, but I got crap to do. The little kiddies at the academy are at a field trip in the forest and I want to go and mess with them. Later!" She finished the last piece of food from Naruto's plate and chugged his tea before strolling out. Naruto watched her leave before he realized something.

"Wait a minute, she ate my food _and_ insulted ramen. Get back here you crazy snake lady!" Naruto jumped out and started a futile pursuit with Gaara shrugging and making his way out of the restaurant with Nero walking next to him. With people like Anko around, he began to think, that maybe being normal wasn't such a good thing around Konoha.

It was nearly sundown as Naruto made his way towards home with Nero. Thankfully, the mob had vanished since last week, even though he knew that one wrong slip up and they'd be back, worse than before. As he turned the corner he stopped in his tracks. Standing in front of his apartment building was Hinata holding a blue flower. She kept on looking between the entrance and his window, trying to make a decision. Finally, she dropped the flower and lowered her head.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I still can't" she whispered to herself. Slowly she walked away leaving a lone flower, on the verge of being blown away with even the gentlest of breezes. When she was out of sight, he walked over and picked up the flower. He stared down at it, a one tear fell onto it. Looking in her direction he made a fist around the head (???) of the flower.

"So am I" He whispered, opening his fist as a wind came along dispersing the petals through out the city. Dropping the stem, he walked inside with little Nero in tow.

Hinata sat next to the swing Naruto always sat on during the academy days. Slowly she bagan to sway as a breeze picked up and a lone, wet petal fell onto her lap. Holding it up, she felt the sadness imbedded within it, and it ached her dearly knowing that she caused the pain. "Naruto……kun" She closed her eyes praying for the strength that she needed.

**Meanwhile, at a bar 20km south of Konoha**

Two men sat at a dark table in the corner. Both wore cloaks and straw hats, but the larger one had a large object covered in cloth on his back. Under the shadow of his wide brimmed hat, a devious smile showing deadly sharp teeth as plans were made.

"So, we strike at noon, eh?" The figure sitting opposite of him raised his head, his face one complete shadow save for his eyes, which glowed bright red with three comma like markings.

* * *

Well, it is now quarter of two, and after writing this straight, I believe that three good chapters are left. Sorry for dieing on you and probolly the many grammer/spelling mistakes here. Remember, I just sat down and pounded this out in an hour and half, hope you like! I know, I know, cliffies suck, but I can't help it. 

Ja ne!


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